Not Good for Your Gut Foods The common phrase ‘you are what you eat’ is both annoying and, to an extent, completely right. If you spend a lot of time filling up on “not good for your gut foods” — those processed foods high in unhealthy fats and sugar — then you are going to gain weight. […]

Water is good for you. It’s not just the stuff of the rain that breaks a summer heat or the stuff we swim in while at the beach. Water is much more critical than either of those things — although either can be pretty important on any given day. Water is essential to health and […]

Healthy eating is not dieting. If you are trying to develop healthy eating habits, you don’t want to feel like you are depriving yourself. Dieting seems to only work in the short term. To achieve weight loss and then to maintain it, you need to develop a healthy lifestyle and make that lifestyle become the […]

Grains, starchy vegetables, sugar, and artificial sweeteners are not part of my bariatric diet! But they sure are central to a traditional Thanksgiving menu. So for many years I missed out on pumpkin pie, rolls, and tea breads. But nowadays I serve a sumptuous grain-free Thanksgiving. That’s because I learned about nut flours! Wonderful baked goods can be […]

A calorie is a measurement tool used to determine the energy in food and beverages from the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins it contains. The simple equation for weight loss is if you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight. Read: Eating Food That Burn More Calories This is true enough, but not absolute. There […]

There is no good way to be fat, but there is a worst way. Fat around the midsection, or belly fat, can be especially dangerous. And getting rid of this belly bulge is important for more than just reasons of vanity. Because belly fat increases health risks for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Abdominal […]

Protein and Amino Acids Proteins are essential for energy and growth. They are the building blocks of life and are in every cell of the human body. Protein foods are broken down into amino acids during digestion and are intricate in growth and tissue repair. Amino acids are therefore the link between the proteins we eat […]

Hemingway coined the term “grace under pressure.” Grace under pressure does not mean freedom from stress. It is the ability to deal with stress. Many struggle to cope when they feel anxious or stressed. They seek relief through habitual and unhealthy behaviors. Emotional eating is one such behavior. Causes of Emotional Eating Knowing what we […]

Tips for Eating Healthy at Parties I love a celebration among family and friends! But there is the very real threat of temptations galore that call to me like the siren’s song. In Spring and Summer with Memorial Day weekend, graduations, 4th of July BBQs, pool parties, weddings and events of this nature, it seems I […]

Although we remain a population of overweight men, women, and children, there is some light in the tunnel. Optimistically-speaking, we may be on our way to better choices and will select healthy chain restaurant meals when eating out. When Canadian researchers asked patrons from ten different restaurants how well they were satisfied with their meals, patrons […]

It is the time of year when the most traditional date for personal improvement offers itself up. The ball is down, Times Square is back to business as usual, and January 1st is bloated with stroke of midnight promises. Among those promises is the pledge to get fit by eating healthy. If you are among those who share […]

Gluten-Free Popularity According to a recent Mintel report, the gluten-free market is fueled by dieters who seek health benefits. However, respected health professionals will tell you that going gluten-free is unhealthy and not recommended. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and whole grain foods related to wheat such as bulgur, farro, kamut, spelt, triticale, […]

Bariatric surgery was not a weight-loss magic bullet for me. Don’t get me wrong, gastric bypass surgery saved my life. I would be morbidly obese today had I not had the surgery 12-years ago. My point is, there is work to be done after gastric bypass. It is but one step on the journey of […]

Too Much of a Good Thing For as long as we have heard about the obesity epidemic we have heard the suggestions to eat more healthy. To our credit we have listened, and obesity rates have begun to level off. It is true we are eating more healthy, but even good intentions can go too […]

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Self Acceptance -- I found this on my computer. It was something that I read or listened to a few years ago when I was going through inner transformation. I think it will help some people as it helped me so I am sharing it. Unfortunately, I don't know who the author is. #MyBariatricLife #bariatrics #bariatric #inspiration

Am I trying to be someone I am not? Am I people pleasing or approval seeking in order to find my own value, and if so, is this working for me? Many times we do things to be liked or accepted. Question what are the intentions behind and stories in you mind causing you to act the way you are.

What does it feel like to be me when I am not trying to improve myself or pretend I am someone that I am not? Are you putting on a mask (more outgoing, more courageous, etc)? Or are you holding back who you really are out of fear?

What if I allowed myself to be completely me — how would things change? How would you act? What would you think about yourself? What if you let go of your fears and were completely you?

What do I need to believe in order to step into this place of peace and acceptance with myself? I am valuable. I am unique. I am special. I am worth something. I have gifts and talents and abilities that others don’t have. I have something to give to the world.

Is there anything stopping me from believing this? Times that I failed in the past… recognize the stories that come out when you think back to these “failures” when I proved to myself I was not good enough. The most important thing here is to recognize the stories that come out and write about them. And recognize that they are just stories. These are the stories that are holding me back every day. I can detach from the stories, I can detach from the emotion.

Step into the person I allowed myself to be. Let go of trying to be someone you’re not. Let go of your judgements and self doubts. I’d be more vulnerable, more giving, more… the best way to change is to act as if. Stop the stories that are preventing me from being that person, and act as if.

Acceptance of where you are in your situation, in life. Far too often we blame others. We have regrets. We have resentment. We have all these stores around why we are where we are. And we think these are partly someone else’s fault. So to change, we need to take 100% responsibility for where we are right now. That involves letting go of the past and taking 100% responsibility for your actions OR how you responded to a situation that someone did to you so that you can claim back your personal power. Choose a different response.

Next, accept what is — what is currently happening in your life. Our suffering is because we are not accepting. Anything that happens to you is neutral. It’s the meaning we give the situation that causes all of our negative emotions. We get caught up in the story to blame everyone else for the situation instead of accepting our own accountability.

And finally, acceptance of what happened. Far too often we hold onto hurt and pain and blame and resentment and unforgiveness. You aren’t getting anywhere - you aren’t moving forward. It keeps you in a helpless place. You are not growing. It is time to let go of the past. While you are holding onto the past and justify it through unforgiveness it keeps you stuck in fear and stuck in life and unable to move forward and be the person you were meant to be. It is your own self hate that is keeping you stuck and from moving into the place you were meant to be. And from this place of self acceptance and forgiveness and what has happened enables you to do a clean sweep of your past, and present, and your self — and you can make massive changes in who you are as a person to live more authentically and create a future that is not based on who you think you are or your past. ...